Sinosteel issues bidder statement for Midwest takeover

The largest iron ore trading company in China, state-owned Sinosteel Corporation, today issued its bidder''s statement for its $1.19 billion takeover bid for iron ore miner Midwest Corporation.

Sinosteel urged Midwest shareholders to consider the all-cash offer against several risks that they could face if the offer was not successful, in a statement released today.

The move is in direct disregard of Midwest''s call on March 19 to raise the $5.60-a-share bid to at least $7 a share, valuing Midwest at $1.49 billion.

Midwest is yet to issue a formal recommendation to its shareholders but advised them on March 14 to take no action until it had an opportunity to consider the offer.

Midwest said the current offer undervalued the strategic and intrinsic value of its five projects in Western Australia.

Midwest''s shares have closed higher than the bid price since March 19 when chief executive Bryan Oliver told a media teleconference that Sinosteel''s bid was timed to avoid paying a fair value for the target''s projects. Midwest share rose 1.7%.

BHP Colombian mine workers return

Mining giant, BHP Billiton Ltd announced that its Cerro Matoso nickel mine in Colombia might need about a month or more before returning to full production following a month-long strike, which has since ended.

Its spokeswoman said a force majeure it announced last week was still in place and work was progressively returning to normal.

She said that it was too early to measure the current production levels at the mine as workers were only returning to work. Unionized workers at the mine accepted a company offer on Sunday to end the four-week strike over wages and the use of outside contract workers.

The strike supported international nickel prices by fuelling concerns that world supplies would suffer. Cerro Matoso accounts for around 4% of the global supply of the metal, which is used in steel making.

The mine in the northern province of Cordoba produced about 51,000 tons of nickel in the 12 months ended June 30. BHP declared force majeure on Friday and said it was working with customers to keep them informed for the duration of the declaration. Its share rose 2.4%.

WorleyParsons acquires Incitec

Australia''s biggest engineering company, WorleyParsons today announced the acquisition of INTEC Engineering, a leading international offshore deepwater Hydrocarbons engineering and project services company, from Heerema Group for $108.5 million.

WorleyParsons said in a statement that the acquisition price represents a multiple of 9.5 times pro forma earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization of INTEC for the twelve months ended 31 December 2007.

It added that the acquisition was scheduled to complete on 16th April 2008 and is expected to be accretive to earnings. The acquisition will be debt funded.

Headquartered in Houston, INTEC has over 500 professional staff with offices in London, Delft, Rio de Janeiro, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and Lagos.

WorleyParsons and INTEC have worked together under a strategic alliance on several projects in recent years and have an agreement to offer offshore oil and gas customers in the Asia-Pacific region a comprehensive solution for large scale integrated deepwater facilities, subsea and marine systems projects.

WorleyParsons chief executive, Mr John Grill said: ""The world''s remaining oil reserves are increasingly found in difficult to access areas, forcing our clients to look further afield in their search for new reserves.